London Writers' Salon
A deep dive into the habits, mindsets, tools, craft secrets and creative practices bestselling writers use to write novels, plays, poetry, and articles. Hosted by the co-founders of the London Writers' Salon, Matt & Parul.
#218: Behind the Scenes With the UK’s Top Literary Agents — Madeleine Milburn, Abigail Bergstrom, Juliet Mushens on Playing the Long Game, Turning Ideas Into Author Brands, and Bouncing Back From Rejection | Compilation
Three of the UK’s leading literary agents — Madeleine Milburn, Abigail Bergstrom and Juliet Mushens — on what happens after an agent says yes: building a writing career that lasts, turning an idea into a distinct author brand, and moving forward after both success and disappointment.
You’ll learn
What good author care looks like, especially when the news is bad.When the biggest advance isn’t the best offer.Why a writing career is a long game, from reinventing a stalled career to surviving the pressure of a big debut.How to find the unique lens that makes...#217: Dawn O'Porter — Finding Your Voice, Writing as a Loyal Companion, Writing Memoir Without Exposing Others, and Success Beyond the Bank Balance
Novelist, memoirist and broadcaster Dawn O'Porter on trusting her own voice, writing the book she had to get out of her system, drafting without a plan, protecting the people in her food memoir Hungry Eyes, and measuring success by what you create rather than what you earn.
You'll learn
Why writing can be the most loyal relationship in a creative career.The case for writing the story you're carrying before you write anything else.What immersive journalism can teach a novelist about not letting the reader down.Why some writers feel trapped by a plan, and...#216: Sarah Gilbert — PR for Indie Authors, Thinking Like a Publicist, and Starting Small to Build Momentum
Lulu PR Manager Sarah Gilbert on building a reader-first publicity plan, pitching the media as an indie author, and turning small grassroots wins into lasting momentum.
You'll learn
Why earned media carries more weight with readers than anything you pay for.The question every author should answer about their book before planning any publicity.How writing a press release can clarify what your book is really about, even if you never send it.When the story behind your book is more pitchable than the book itself.How to build a media list and write a pitch...#215: How to Go Indie — Joanna Penn, Orna Ross, Eleanor Anstruther on Owning Your Rights, Paying Yourself First, and Serialising Your Novel on Substack | Compilation
Indie authors Joanna Penn, Orna Ross, and Eleanor Anstruther on going direct to readers and protecting your rights, the business and money side of self-publishing, and building an audience by serialising on Substack.
You'll learn
Why curiosity and a willingness to experiment matter more than any credential when you go indie.Why the writers you admire may not make their money the way you think.What separates an independent author from someone who simply self-publishes.How a ten-poem experiment revealed what self-publishing really changes.The seven processes that make up the craft of publishing, and why...#214: Emma Gannon — Find Your Creative Compass, Let Go of People-Pleasing, Redefining Success, and Owning Your Work Through Self-Publishing (With Discoveries Prize)
Sunday Times bestselling author Emma Gannon on healing burnout through play and joy, trusting your creative intuition over people-pleasing, and what she's learned from self-publishing alongside traditional publishing.
You'll learn
Why burnout might be healed through play and joy rather than by pushing harder.How some books arrive in a month while others take years, and why there's no single right way to write one.The case against selling a book before it's written.A squirrel-inspired method for gathering raw material and letting a book's themes reveal themselves.What to remember when you're tempted to talk...#213: Anthony Anaxagorou — Thinking Like a Poet, Pushing Past Self-Doubt, and Treating Rejection as Part of the Job (From The Vault)
Poet, publisher, and educator Anthony Anaxagorou on treating rejection as part of the job, pushing an idea to its edge without losing the reader, and ending a poem where it can keep travelling — a re-release of episode #012.
You'll learn:
Why walking away from writing for years doesn't necessarily mean you ever left it.How to treat rejection as part of the job rather than a verdict on your worth.What happens to your work when one stamp of validation starts to feel like an entitlement.How a restless, never-satisfied mind can become a creative engine.A mo...#212: Marti Leimbach — The Art of Writing a Novel, Why Self-Doubt Is a Good Sign, Revising Without Losing Heart, and Surviving the Highs and Lows of Publishing (From The Vault)
Bestselling novelist Marti Leimbach on the art of writing a novel, surviving early success and the long career that follows, and turning lived experience into fiction — a remastered version of episode #016.
You'll learn
Why your relationship to the page has to outrank every other voice in writing and publishing.How to tell apart the voice that says you're no good and the voice that says you're not finished.The case for admitting you're not up to the task before you sit down to write.What a genuinely good writing day looks like, and why a single se...#211: Laura Palmer & Jessie Sullivan — How to Market Your Book, from the Founders of Digital-First Publisher Pellerin Books, Finding the Readers Who Will Love Your Book, and Why the Best Book Still Wins
Pellerin Books founders Laura Palmer and Jessie Sullivan on how readers discover books now, where to put your marketing money, and why the quality of the book still decides everything.
You'll learn
The rule that quietly decides which authors get a publisher’s time, budget and attention.Why the first question about marketing a book is never “how?”How to research your readers and your market without paying for a single tool.The metric that makes an ad campaign look like it is working when nothing is.What a cover and a developmental edit should cost, and th...#210: Lily King — Emotional Arc, Women and Literary Ambition, Silencing the Inner Critic, and Why Patience Is a Writer's Real Craft
Award-winning novelist Lily King on finding the emotional arc of a novel, writing the scene you keep avoiding, and making peace with ambition, self-criticism and the long road to a first book.
You'll learn
Why the scene you most want to avoid is usually the one your book needs.How a small change in the final pages of one section can rebuild an entire novel.What it means to think in emotional arc rather than theme.The difference between being hard on yourself about writing and being hard on yourself while you write.Why giving yourself...#209: Literary Agent Rachel Mann — What Makes an Agent Say Yes, Navigating the Submissions Process, and the Tension Between Art and Commerce
CAA literary agent Rachel Mann on what makes her say yes to a manuscript, how to navigate the submissions process without losing control of your career, and why cutting is the work that makes prose land.
You'll learn
Why the recognition an agent needs is physical rather than analytical. What to do when you're not sure your manuscript is ready to send out. How to buy more time after a full manuscript request without killing the momentum. Why telling other agents about your requests works in your favour, even if it feels grubby. The realistic rhythm...#208: What Keeps Us Writing? Memoirist Deepa Paul, Essayist Gina Beach, and Novelist Daisy Buchanan on Finishing a Book an Hour at a Time, Writing in Community, and Taking Yourself Less Seriously
In this special episode we go behind the scenes with memoirist Deepa Paul, essayist, cookbook author Gina Beach, and novelist Daisy Buchanan and talk about the two things that keep them going: the passion behind the work, and the practice that makes the work possible.
From an essay that no editor wanted to a Women's Prize-longlisted memoir, a personal research rabbit hole that became a four-year book project, and the journey from idea to novel, this is a personal conversation with three writers about about why they write the things they write — and what kept them going.
...#207: Writing Bestselling Middle-Grade Fiction — Jasmine Richards (Storymix), Natalie Doherty (Puffin and HarperCollins), Soman Chainani (The School for Good and Evil) on Standing Out on the Shelf and Writing Unputdownable Voice | Compilation
Children’s fiction studio founder Jasmine Richards (Storymix), publisher Natalie Doherty (Puffin and HarperCollins Children’s Books), and bestselling author Soman Chainani (The School for Good and Evil) on shaping an idea commercial enough to sell, what makes a children’s book impossible to put down, and trusting the unconscious to write it.
You’ll learn
Why the most commercial idea is the one that centres its reader from the very first thought. How a single pithy log line can carry a book all the way from the slush pile to the playground. The counterintuitive trick of...#206: Maya C. Popa — Writing with Wonder, Surviving Rejection, and Building a Life in Poetry
Poet Maya C. Popa on writing with wonder, the ruthless craft of revision, and building a sustainable life in poetry.
You’ll learn
Why wonder has more in common with the sublime — the beautiful and the terrible — than with simple delight. How a poem loses its charge the moment its ending is visible from the opening line. What “negative capability” asks of a writer stuck in the dark middle of a draft. The question worth asking when the work feels uncomfortable and you’re certain something has gone wrong. A ruthless method for finding a poem’s true entry p...#205: Casper ter Kuile — Sacred Writing, Turning Routine into Ritual, Rest as Creative Fuel, Moving Past Self-Doubt (From The Vault)
Author Casper ter Kuile on transforming everyday writing into a sacred ritual, drawing on rest and reflection to fuel creativity, and moving past self-doubt to write as a gift for others.
You'll learn
Why the point of the work week might be the rest, not the other way around. How to turn an ordinary daily habit into a ritual using three simple ingredients. What a weekly tech sabbath can unlock in your most creative thinking. The reframe that turns a dreadful first draft into something you can build on. A piece of advice from a mentor...#204: Secrets & Rituals of Building a Writing Practice — Seth Godin, Amie McNee, Mason Currey on Choosing Yourself, Protecting Your Writing Time, and Process Over Outcome | Compilation
Bestselling and award-winning writers Seth Godin (The Practice), Amie McNee (We Need Your Art) and Mason Currey (Daily Rituals) on choosing yourself before anyone else does, protecting the hour you actually have, and why the practice that works is the one that fits your life rather than someone else’s.
You’ll learn
Why "grow a thicker skin" is the wrong advice for a writer facing rejection. What shifts when you notice the harshest rejection you face each day is your own. The case for lowering your standards if your ambitions are big. How an hour that...#203: Doireann Ní Ghríofa — Turning Archives into Narrative, Excavating History, Writing Poetry and Fiction, Why Writers Are Often Their Own Gatekeepers
Irish writer Doireann Ní Ghríofa on turning archival fragments into living narrative, writing across the borders of genre, and giving voice to the forgotten lives of women committed to a Victorian asylum.
You’ll learn
Why the greatest gatekeeper between a writer and the page is often the writer themselves. How a single word buried in clinical notes can become a bridge to a silenced voice. What poetry can teach prose writers about immediacy and the shock of a strong opening. The case for pointing at the gaps in the record rather than papering over them...#202: Tara Menon — Writing a Debut Novel Over Eight Years, Moving From Critic to Novelist, and Surviving Self-Doubt as a Writer
Debut novelist Tara Menon on writing friendship as a life-shaping bond, the emotional architecture of grief, and researching the natural world for her novel Under Water.
You’ll learn
Why a platonic friendship can shape a life as profoundly as any romance How to build tension in a story when the reader already knows what’s coming. What an unexpected sea creature reveals about writing the bonds between women. The difference between endless research and knowing just enough to write the scene. Why fiction demands a kind of surrender that criticism never asks for. How grief for...#201: Writing Bestselling Fantasy — Holly Black (The Cruel Prince) & Samantha Shannon (The Priory of the Orange Tree) on Magic Systems, Building Worlds From Research, and Writing Through Self-Doubt | Compilation
Bestselling fantasy authors Holly Black and Samantha Shannon on building believable magic systems, researching and constructing immersive worlds, and why the right book often only emerges once you’ve written the wrong one.
You’ll learn
Why the most convincing magic on the page often starts with something you once half-believed was real. How writing the wrong version of a book can be the only route to the right one. What the texture of a world quietly promises a reader before the plot even begins. Why putting a character through the worst is often the best...#200: Louise Dean — How to Finish a Novel, Why Most Writers Stall at 30,000 Words, and Why Storytelling Beats Beautiful Sentences, plus founding Novelry
Award-winning novelist and founder of The Novelry Louise Dean on what separates storytelling from beautiful prose, planning a novel without killing the joy, and how to edit your own first draft.
You'll learn
Why learning to craft perfect sentences can quietly delay your path to publication. How a single shift from style to storytelling turns a promising writer into a published one. What treating each chapter like a short story does to the terror of a blank novel. The reason every novel is a moral journey (and why you have to throw rocks at your hero). ...#199: Katie da Cunha Lewin — How Space Shapes Creative Work, the Myth of the Perfect Writing Room, Building Creative Rituals, and Writing in Imperfect Conditions
Writer Katie da Cunha Lewin on how physical spaces shape creative work, why the perfect writing room is a myth, and the rituals and routines that sustain a writing life.
You'll learn
Why the perfect writing space is largely a myth (and why that can set you free). How physical environments quietly shape creative practice and identity. What our fascination with visiting writers' houses reveals. The cultural baggage around “the writer's room,” and who it quietly excludes. The way motherhood compresses time and forces a new kind of creative discipline. A concept of psychological distance between dome...#198: Mastering Young Adult Fiction — Krystal Sutherland (House of Hollow), Joanna Nadin (90+ Books for Kids & Teens), Moira Buffini (Songlight) on Finding Your Writing Home, Knowing Your Audience, Why Stories Matter to the Young | Compilation
YA masters Krystal Sutherland (The Invocations), Joanna Nadin (author of 90+ books for children and adults) and Moira Buffini (Songlight) on hooking teen readers from the very first page, plotting methods that tame a whole novel, and why stories matter so much to young people.
You'll learn
What sparks the magic system of a supernatural thriller. What it means to find your writing home, and how to know when you've arrived. Why readers decide within the first ten pages, and how visceral detail keeps them hooked. A pantser's case for careful plotting when you're juggling multiple points...#197: Chris Pavone — Writing the Modern Thriller, Sustaining Tension Over Action, and Defining Success on Your Own Terms
Edgar Award–winning novelist Chris Pavone on creating tension that never lets up, editing a book to make it bigger rather than just better, and turning a single apartment building into a portrait of a whole city.
You'll learn
Why every book has to be one clear thing before it can be anything else. How two decades of editing other people’s books prepares you to write your own. The offhand note from a legendary editor that quietly transformed a debut, and why the vaguest feedback can be the most useful. What it means to edit a bo...#196: Missouri Williams — Writing Strange and Ambitious Fiction, Doubt as a Generative Force, and Why Idleness Is Essential to Creativity
Award-winning novelist Missouri Williams on writing strange and ambitious fiction, treating doubt as a generative force, and why idleness is essential to creative work.
You'll learn
How a destabilising illness and a new language can reshape a writer’s whole relationship to words. Why style isn’t something you construct so much as a way of seeing you’re partly stuck with. The case for drafting without thinking about the end result and keeping the stakes low. What an image you can’t stop returning to can reveal about the book you need to write. When idleness...#195: Holly Ringland — The Pain of Not Writing, Breaking Through Decades of Self-Doubt, Meeting the Inner Critic with the Inner Fan, and Building a Toolkit for the Creative Life
Bestselling novelist Holly Ringland on writing from joy instead of fear, the toolkit she built to meet the inner critic with self-compassion, and finding the first true sentence of her debut after decades of silence.
You'll learn
Why the pain of not writing eventually outweighs the pain of writing. What grief and loss can crack open in a writer that nothing else can. How the first true line of a novel can arrive once you stop listening to the reasons you can't write it. A bullet-point approach to plotting that protects the nervous system from t...#194: Finding Peak Writing Flow & Focus — Dr Gloria Mark, Oliver Burkeman & Charlie Hoehn on Designing Your Day Around Peak Attention, Embracing Imperfection, and the Power of Play (Compilation)
Attention researcher Dr Gloria Mark (Attention Span), bestselling author Oliver Burkeman (Meditations for Mortals) and book strategist Charlie Hoehn (Play It Away) on designing your day around peak focus, embracing imperfection in creative work and bringing play back to the page.
You'll learn
#193: Rebecca Fallon — Juggling Motherhood and Creative Ambition, Crafting Dual Timelines, Inhabiting Multiple Points of View
Debut novelist Rebecca Fallon on ambition, motherhood, crafting dual timelines, and writing a novel built around the person who isn't there.
We discuss
Why quitting a stable job to write a novel can be framed as a calculated bet rather than a leap of faith. How to prototype the writer's life before fully committing to it. What genre fiction can teach a literary novelist about plotting and structure. How a single late-stage scene revealed who the actual protagonist of the book had been all along. The unsexy spreadsheet work behind a novel that moves between timelines. ...#192: Steven Pressfield — The War of Art, Battling Resistance, Hearing the Call of the Muse, Writing Memoir (From The Vault)
Bestselling author Steven Pressfield on what it means to have a creative calling, battling resistance, the role of faith in writing, and his memoir Govt Cheese. A remastered version of episode #058.
You'll learn:
Why a typewriter sat untouched in the back of a van for seven years before becoming a career. How self-sabotage shows up at the finish line, not just at the start. A rule of thumb for telling resistance apart from legitimate doubt. Why the more important a project is, the more terrifying it should feel. When you can finally write about pain, and...#191: Debra Curtis — Becoming a Novelist After Sixty, Surviving Hundreds of Rejections, Radical Forgiveness, and Not Giving Up as a Writer
Debut novelist Debra Curtis on teaching herself to write by copying poems by hand as a dyslexic child, using contemporary novels as craft manuals to learn structure, meeting the Dalai Lama, the importance of radical forgiveness & publishing her first novel in her sixties after years of rejection.
You'll learn:
Why copying poems by hand into a composition notebook secretly teaches a dyslexic child to write. The hospital-bed moment with her dying father that became a three-decade family motto. A vision at a marina, a prescription bottle, and the woman who became her protagonist. What hundreds of r...#190: Writing Hits for the Screen — Hannah Bos (Somebody Somewhere), Kim Krizan (Before Sunrise), Selina Lim (Sex Education) on Writing Partnerships, Character-First Screenwriting, Life in the Writers’ Room (Compilation)
Screenwriters Hannah Bos (HBO’s Somebody Somewhere), Kim Krizan (Before Sunrise, Before Sunset) and Selina Lim (Sex Education, Hanna) on building writing partnerships, developing characters from the inside out, and finding your way into a writers’ room.
You'll learn
Why a writing partnership only works when you can separate your ego from your ideas. How seven years of making weird theatre in Brooklyn quietly set the stage for an HBO show. What it takes to write a quiet, character-driven show in a TV landscape built for plot. How a master’s thesis on a diarist turned...#189: Juliet Mushens — Building Bestselling Writer Careers, Decoding Agent Feedback, and Why Writing for the Market Rarely Works
Literary agent Juliet Mushens on what makes her offer representation, how she builds bestselling careers from debut to long-term success, and why writers need a life outside of publishing.
We discuss
Why tension is the single most important quality an agent looks for in any genre of fiction. How personalized feedback from an agent signals you’re closer than you think. The editorial conversation that happens when an agent offers representation. What to consider when choosing between multiple agent offers, and why gut matters more than questionnaires. How some of today’s biggest bestsellers had their firs...#188: Josh Ritter — Songwriting as Exploration, Working Across Art Forms, Inviting the Muse In, and Sharing Work in Public
Singer-songwriter and author Josh Ritter on writing songs for the muse instead of waiting for it, letting creative ideas find their shape across songwriting, painting, and fiction, and building a sustainable creative life over more than two decades.
We discuss:
Writing for the muse instead of waiting for it. Why working across multiple art forms keeps each one alive. The craft behind a single narrative song, from first image to finished track. Balancing creative compulsion with everyday life. What sharing work publicly teaches you about your own work. How the relationship between an artist and their...#187: Lidia Yuknavitch — The Art of Memoir & Writing from the Body, Plus Breaking Narrative Form and Finding Core Metaphors
Novelist, memoirist, and Corporeal Writing founder Lidia Yuknavitch on writing from the body, finding form in the natural world, and why the stories we need most come from the places we’ve been afraid to go.
We discuss:
Why the element that makes you vibrate — water, forest, rock, wind — might be the key to unlocking your creative access path. How to find your core metaphors through a body-based meditation practice. A practical portal for memoir writers. Why abandoning linear plot doesn’t mean abandoning form. The difference between prompts and portals. Why writers who’ve survived the hardes...#186: Jennifer Breheny Wallace — The Science of Mattering, Outrunning Your Inner Critic, Building a Writing Life Around Deep Work
Award-winning journalist and bestselling author Jennifer Breheny Wallace on mattering, resilience through relationships, and the writing practices behind two New York Times bestselling nonfiction books.
You’ll learn
Why resilience as a writer has far less to do with self-care routines and far more to do with the people you surround yourself with. How to tell whether your idea is a series of articles or a book, and what structural test separates one from the other. A practical way to ask for feedback on your writing that actually leads to useful criticism instead of vague encouragement. Wh...#185: David Eagleman — The Neuroscience of Creativity, Navigating Genres, Protecting Your Brain in the Age of AI, plus The Lazy Susan Method
Description:
Neuroscientist and bestselling author David Eagleman on the brain science behind creativity, what actually causes writer's block, and how pre-commitment strategies like the Ulysses contract can help writers finish what they start.
You'll learn:
Why creativity isn't a rare gift, and what's actually happening in every brain when it absorbs and remixes the world around it. The three core algorithms behind creative thinking, and how to use them deliberately when you're stuck on a project. What's really going on in the brain when a writer feels blocked, and why the fix might b...#184: How to Write Short Stories with Sarah Hall, Jonathan Escoffery & Niamh Mulvey — Building Worlds in Small Spaces, Research That Sparks Story, Writing Endings That Feel Inevitable (Compilation)
Acclaimed short fiction writers Sarah Hall, Jonathan Escoffery, and Niamh Mulvey on building immersive worlds in compressed spaces, grounding stories in real human stakes, and writing openings and endings that transform both character and reader.
Timestamps:
(00:01:06) Sarah Hall, from Episode 161
(00:14:43) Jonathan Escoffery, from Episode 56
(00:26:40) Niamh Mulvey, previously unreleased conversation
You'll learn:
Sarah Hall's "keyhole" approach to short stories — and how the unseen world beyond the scene gives a story its depth. Why trusting your preoccupations beats forcing a theme, and how over-awareness of your own subject can...#183: Curtis Chin — Landing National Press, Running 300+ Book Events, Booking Venues With Cold Emails, Making Book Tours Pay, Building Book Buzz Without a Marketing Team
Memoirist and filmmaker Curtis Chin on pitching for national press, booking venues through cold emails, and making a high-volume book events strategy financially sustainable.
You’ll learn:
Why Curtis booked readings before his memoir released to drive pre-orders, and what that early push unlocked. How he found venues by researching programs and series online, then sending cold outreach without overcomplicating it. A practical way to define your “audience” so your outreach targets the right communities and institutions. How to write a venue email that creates urgency (a “hook” and a reason to say yes now), without sounding gimmick...#182: Morgan Cooper — Creative Audacity & Creating Your Own Opportunities, Making Bel-Air, Turning a Viral Short Film Into a Series, Producing with Will Smith & Writing Picture Books
Writer and director Morgan Cooper on turning a self-funded Bel-Air short into a series, building creative audacity before opportunity arrives, and staying resourceful across drafts, collaboration, and a children’s picture book.
You'll learn:
Why “imperfect action” can be a practical antidote to creative paralysis, especially early in your craft.How he found a compelling dramatic lens by stripping away sitcom expectations and focusing on character archetypes and real-world stakes.What it can look like to invest commercial income back into self-initiated work to build a body of proof.Why “waiting for permission” often hides fear, and how st...#181: Erica Stern — Writing Hybrid Nonfiction, Genre-Bending Memoir, Blending Research and Story, Finding A Publisher
Essayist and fiction writer Erica Stern on writing hybrid nonfiction, weaving memoir with research and a ghost-story thread, and finding a publishing home for genre-defying work.
You'll learn:
#180: How to Write Historical Fiction with Maggie O'Farrell, Ruta Sepetys & Stacey Halls — Research that Sparks Story, Non-Linear Structure & Authentic Dialogue (Compilation)
Novelists Maggie O’Farrell, Stacey Halls, and Ruta Sepetys on turning research into living scenes, building non-linear structure that still feels clear, and writing voice and dialogue that make the past feel immediate.
Timestamps:
00:01:30 Maggie O’Farrell
00:26:14 Stacey Halls
00:49:33 Ruta Sepetys
You’ll learn:
#179: Moira Buffini — From Playwright to Novelist, Writing Dystopian YA, plus Creative Resilience and Sustaining a Long Creative Career
Playwright and BAFTA-nominated screenwriter Moira Buffini on moving between theatre, film, and fiction, writing for yourself instead of the market, and shaping structure by rewriting toward the ending you want readers to feel.
You’ll learn:
Why “you are the audience” can be a practical rule for cutting through market noise and writing with conviction. A useful way to handle reviews and outside opinions without letting them steer the work. How to build story momentum when you can’t fully plot ahead, and why not knowing the next move can be a strength. A structure approach based...